Curriculum and syllabus- Octavio Canseco

Luis Octavio Canseco García / Escuela de Idiomas / URSE / Oaxaca / México

Curriculum

and

Syllabus

LUIS OCTAVIO CANSECO GARCIA


Curriculum and Syllabus:

The term curriculum is open to a variety of

definitions; in its narrowest sense is

synonymous with the term syllabus, as in

the specification of the content and the

ordering of what is to be taught.

Finney (2002:70)


Curriculum and Syllabus:

In the wider sense it refers to all the aspects of

the planning, implementation and evaluation of

an educational program, the why, how and how

well together with the what of the teaching-

learning process.

Finney (2002:70)


Curriculum:

It can be defined, as an educational program which

states:

a) “The educational purpose of the program (the ends)

b) The content teaching procedures and learning

experience which will be necessary to achieve this

purpose (the means)

c) Some means for assessing whether or not the

educational ends have been achieved.”

( Richards, Platt and Platt 1993: 94)


“Curriculum is a very general concept which

involves consideration of the whole complex of

philosophical, social and administrative factors

which contribute to the planning of an

educational program.”

(Allen quoted in Nunan, 2000: 6)

Curriculum:


Syllabus: A Definition

Defining a Syllabus: some conceptual difficulties

Clarifying the concept of syllabus is extremely

problematic. There seem to be as many

definitions as definers, each apparently covering

similar ground, whilst containing various nuances

and differences in emphasis.


If the curriculum is “all the relevant

decision-making processes of all the

participants” (Johnson, 1989), the

syllabus is its result.

Syllabus: A Definition


A syllabus is an expression of opinion on

the nature of language and learning; it

acts as a guide for both teacher and learner

by providing some goals to be attained.

Syllabus


Hutchinson and Waters (1996:80) define

syllabus as follows:

“At its simplest level a syllabus can be

described as a statement of what is to be

learnt”.

Syllabus


Nunan (1999:73) refers to syllabus as:

“A syllabus consists of list of content to be

taught through a course of study. Key tasks

for the syllabus designer are the selection of

the items and their sequencing and

integration”.

Syllabus


Pienemann (1985: 23) sees the syllabus as

“the selection and grading of linguistic

teaching objectives”,

Breen (1984: 47) considers syllabus as “a plan

of what is to be achieved through our

teaching and our students’ learning”.


Stern (1984) defines syllabus as connected with

content, structure, and organization.

For Lee (1980:108). syllabus is “essentially a

statement of what should be taught, year by

year– through language – syllabuses often also

contain points about the method of teaching and

the time to be taken”.


(Candlin,1984:30), describes syllabus as follows:

“Syllabuses are concerned with the specification

and planning of what is to be learned,

frequently set down in some written form as

prescriptions for action by teachers and learners.

They have, traditionally, the mark of authority”.


Dubin & Olshtain, (1997: 28) say:

“syllabus is a more detailed and operational

statement of teaching and learning elements

which translates the philosophy of the

curriculum into a series of planned steps

leading towards more narrowly defined objectives

at each level”


A syllabus can also be seen as a "summary of

the content to which learners will be exposed"

(Yalden.1987: 87).

It is seen as an approximation of what will be

taught and it cannot accurately predict what will

be learnt.


Given these definitions it is suggested that

it seems helpful to define a curriculum and

a syllabus as separate entities.


To sum up it is possible to see syllabus

design as part of course design, which

in turn, forms part of the design of the

curriculum as a whole.


Bibliography

Breen, M.P. (1984): “Process Syllabuses for the Language Classroom” in Brumfit, C.J. (ed): General English Syllabus

Design, ELT Documents 118. London, Pergamon Press/British Council.

Candlin, C.N. (1984): “Syllabus Design as a Critical Process.” in Brumfit, C.J. (ed): General English Syllabus Design,

ELT Documents 118. London, Pergamon Press/British Council.

Dubin, F. & Olshtain, E. (1997) Course Design: Developing Programs and Materials for Language Learning, Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press.

Finney, D. (2002): The ELT Curriculum iin Richards, J.C. and Willy A. Renandya (ed): Methodology in Language

Teaching. USA: Cambridge University Press.

Hutchinson, T. & Waters, A (1996) ESP A learning centred approach. Great Britain Cambridge University Press.

Johnson, R.K. (1989): “ A Decision-Making Framework for the Coherent Language Curriculum.” in Johnson, R.K. (ed):

The Second Language Curriculum. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

Lee, W. R. (1980) National Syllabuses Construction for Foreign-Language Teaching: Reconciling the Approaches ELT

documents 108- Pgs.81-85, England: The British Council.

Nunan, D. (1999). Second Language Teaching and Learning . Canada: Heinle & Heinle.

Pienemann, M. (1985): “Learnability and Syllabus Construction.” in Hyltenstam and Pienemann (eds): Modelling and

Assessing Second Language Aquisition. Clevedon, Multilingual Matters.

Curriculum and syllabus- Octavio Canseco

Education

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